Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Reduces Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 305,610 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 44,593 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $55.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.13. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.